Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
Repairs after the sale of a home house
I recently sold a townhouse in California. After close of escrow and title transfer, the new owners discovered that the termite inspector who had one done internal dry rot repairs, had not finished repairing the roof which had been cut open to gain access to the dry rotted areas. The termite inspectors had stated previously that they would not do roof repairs. Now, the new owner wants me to pay $1,500 to repair the roof. I feel that now that the escrow is closed and the title has been transferred, I have no legal obligation to do so. I also think the realtor did him a disservice in not discovering this omission during the final walk-thru and that he should sue the realtor, if anyone. I did not witness anything since I conducted this entire sale while here in my new residence in Virginia. The new owner has gone ahead and done the necessary repairs and submitted me with a bill via registered mail requesting I reimburse him for said repairs. I am inclined not to.
(p.s., I understand that if I refuse to pay, and this goes to small claims court that he cannot legally serve me since I now live in the state of Virginia and he resides in California, and California law does not recognize claim services outside of the State).
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Repairs after the sale of a home house
Rather than doing the right(and ethical) thing,
you, as the seller of this property which turned out to have a major defect, now appear to be attempting to evade your responsibility to pay for this defect by utilizing legal technicalities.
What more needs to be said? Simply put, you now should pay for what you should've paid for before the sale closed.
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